Photo gallery: Coyotes suffer close upset by rival SDSU

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With back and forth plays, and scores fluctuating for three quarters, the Coyotes couldn’t keep up with the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits, and lost 31-28.

Despite the loss, there were a few highlights for USD. The game honored the 17 seniors on the team before kick off. Senior quarterback Chris Streveler broke USD’s record for passes in a single season, a record previously held by Wesley Beschorner in 2005, according to GoYotes.

Sophomore Dakarai Allen and junior Michael Fredrick scored twice in the game. Allen scored the final touchdown for the Coyotes with 2:14 remaining in the fourth period, bringing the Jackrabbits’ previous 10-point lead to a 3-point one.

Allen led the Coyotes in yards with 83, followed by senior Brandt Van Roekel with 68 and freshman Kai Henry with 50.

SDSU had multiple injuries on the field, one resulting in USD junior Alex Gray getting disqualified for targeting.

Head coach Bob Nielson said he was “really proud” of the team today at a press conference.

“They played really hard,” he said. “It’s been an interesting second half of the season.”

An emotional Nielson said Streveler hadn’t practiced all week due to a hand injury.

“Chris Streveler, in my opinion, if there’s a better football player in college football, I haven’t see him,” Nielson said. “His throwing hand is so swollen he can’t even hang on to a football right now, and look what he did. He’s been such a tremendous leader for us. That’s why I hope we keep playing, because I think he epitomizes in our team right now that we’re just going to keep battling.”

This game, being the Coyotes’ last, will determine whether they qualify for playoffs for the Missouri Valley Football Conference or not.

“We’ve got some quality wins,” Nielson said. “Without question, our league is the best league in the country. I think we’ve proved that with how we play in non-league. I would hope the committee (MVFC) recognizes that and the fact that, even though we end with two losses, we played two really good football teams.”

Streveler said at the press conference the team played “hard.”

“We sure hope (we get a shot at playoffs) — it’s out of our control at this point,” he said. “We don’t want to be done playing football. We know what we can do as a team.”

There were a few drives and plays the team didn’t capitalize on, Streveler said.

“It comes down to execution,” he said.

Armstead said the team pushed back in the second half.

“We were able to minimize a lot of big plays in the second half,” he said. “We’re hoping for good news tomorrow — put this loss in the back of our minds.”

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Cheyenne Alexis is a senior at the University of South Dakota from Omaha, Nebraska. She is majoring in media & journalism with a minor in creative writing. She currently works as the sports presentation editor for The Volante.